Saturday, 29 June 2013

The food week that was

So what happened this week? Well my man learned how to make espresso and I created some pretty good meals from the tasty, fresh and local produce from the good people at Foodbox. Today Naomi and I converged on my deck (with left over pumpkin pie) to reflect on the food week that was: the trials (relationship-threatening ravioli making), the creative successes (fennel and apple salad, beetroot risotto) and the realisation that really we both need much better cameras!

The Foodbox Challenge: Cook with EVERYTHING in our FoodBox, and be as creative as possible.

Roast pumpkin, chicken and blue cheese ravioli. A classic but a goodie. Definitely roast the pumpkin if you have time rather than boiling it, it gives it a great deep caramelised flavour.

Wednesday

Potato, carrot, broccoli and tuna cornish pasties.

Definitely the highlight. I had been planning on using beef mince and going for a more traditional pastie, but on inspection, it turns out my mince was no longer edible... Its amazing how the potato, carrot and broccoli came together and were so delicious in the crispy soft pastry mmmm. Will definitely make this one again!

Roasted beetroot risotto with goats cheese and roasted walnuts. I also used the left overs to make arancini with panko crumbs, delicious...

Apple and rhubarb strudel with orange syrup.

Olive

Monday
A little pre- yoga celery and green apple juice

Later on a juicy steak from my in-laws farm with potato and broccoli

Tuesday
This, with some help from an Al Brown recipe, turned into....

... caramelized fennel, walnut, orange, and green apple salad with free range pork chop. I can't wait to make this again, good pork is so good and you can't go past putting apples with it. I've really only used fennel as a herb but its the perfect main event!

Wednesday
Gnocchi and beetroot with parsley. Had potatoes left over from last weeks Foodbox so used them for the gnocchi, roasted beetroot is so sweet and earthy.

Thursday
I was invited to a Thursday taco night so made this buttercup pumpkin pie for dessert, everyone loved it. I think its quite American but it's really so good- nice way to sneak some extra veg in. I gave it to my man who 'has an aversion pumpkin'- he loved it! His six year old niece also loved it until, with one bite to go, I boldly declared "IT'S PUMPKIN!" then she stopped eating.

Friday
Roasted brussels ravioli with parsley and broccoli sauce. Well this was quite the debacle due to me cutting corners, not being bothered to make pasta and buying wrappers that turned out to have an expiry date sometime back in early 2012. The ravioli disintegrated when i dropped it into boiling water. I had feelings that I imagine real chefs like Gordon Ramsay have ie: violent anger. It tasted amazing even if it looks like a green lump.

Finished my week with Rhubarb Cobbler. My man arrived home just in time for this and was amazed; A, that I was making dessert and B, that it was so amazingly delicious.

Indulging in a little more pumpkin pie- as you can see Naomi scoffed hers super fast.

The sunsets and we eat some more pie

I really enjoyed trying to use ingredients in different ways. I wouldn't normally make dessert but am so pleased I made the effort even if I will be eating Pumpkin Pie well into next week. While I had a slight disaster with the Roast Brussels Ravioli I would totally do this again as it tasted amazing and was full of green goodness. I can't wait to try doing Naomi's beetroot risotto, the colour looked amazing!

Our lovely friend Jane is getting a Foodbox next week and is known as a bit of a whizz in the kitchen; she's going all out and getting the Crowd Pleaser !